There's No 'I' in Rikkai Dai

Niou Masaharu One-Shot

If there was one thing worse than sitting through that obligatory almost-but-not-quite sex scene edited into practically every major motion picture rated PG-13 with your parents, it was watching it with a group of teenage boys.

I shifted in my seat, wishing I would have settled on the floor rather than being sandwiched between two of the eight young males. Jeez, did they have to make it so graphic? I didn't want to see this kind of stuff! Wasn't the movie supposed to be about street racing or something? Where did this little moment fit into the plot? Couldn't they have just kissed and cut to the next day? We're big kids, we could have figured it out. We didn't need the moaning to understand!

...Awkward.

I kept my eyes glued to my lap, focusing on picking off some of my nail polish. I wondered if the boys were actually watching the TV. Should I pretend that I wasn't bothered by the action going on? I had to be mature enough by now, at age fourteen, to not blush and instantly look away from anything more than a peck on the lips. Then again, I wouldn't want to look like some kind of pervert if I was engrossed in the heated moment. I wasn't sure which I would rather do: keep on being this bashful self or put on the act of not being fazed. It was a double edged sword.

Finally (after what felt like hours while I debated internally) the storm had blown over and the main character was clothed and strutting through a different setting. I almost sighed in relief as breathing became a little easier. Just when I honestly thought I was home free, an arm slithered around the back of my neck.

"Well, I'm in the mood," Niou smirked, eyes naturally devilish as he leered down at me. "Wanna make out, puri~?"

I barely had the time to look completely scandalized before Niou's head was thrust into his lap. I stiffened, thinking that it was one of Sanada's infamous slaps of insubordination before I realized that he was across the room, settled in a recliner.

"Stop it, Niou," Jackal warned under his breath while withdrawing his hand, still aware of the others trying to listen to the video. His effort was in vain as all ears tuned into the conversation.

Marui popped his gum. "Oi, Niou, don't tease little Shiho-chan just 'cause she's so innocent."

His words sounded just as innocent as he claimed (or rather knew) I was, but I understood without looking that there was a mocking smirk plastered into his face.

Masaharu's arm unwound itself from my shoulders, settling behind his own head as he leaned back into the cushions. "Aa, I guess it's not her fault that she's not as experienced in romance as the rest of us."

I pouted, not willing to look any of the boys in the eye. Akaya snorted.

"What do you guys know about romance?" he grumbled. All eyes drifted over to the trickster accordingly, waiting for his rebuttal.

Weren't we supposed to be watching the movie? What happened to that plan?

Niou grinned smugly. "A lot more than you, brat."

The second year glared towards his silvery-haired senpai. It was hard to believe that Akaya was known as a demon on the tennis courts when he looked so adorable outside of them. "How would you know? It's not like I've ever seen you guys with any girls."

"We wouldn't want to taint your immature mind, sea-weed head. Don't you still believe in cooties?"

"No! I've never believed in that, you basta- !"

"Kirihara!"

Ah, that was Sanada. His thunderous voice alone was worse than any physical hit.

Well, maybe a 'Tarundoru' would be more horrible than yelling.

Akaya scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Eh, gomen, fukubuchou."

I groaned lightly, unable to hold in my insecurity any longer and muttering a sullen, "Why am I even here anyway?"

Niou perked up from my side, thrusting a finger into my rib cage and watching my violent flinch shamelessly. "Because it's Yukimura's birthday! And since all of the regulars were invited, it was your job to escort the brat over and make sure he didn't run into the streets and get hit by a truck of something..."

At that point, Akaya had broken out into a string of hysterics that were only rivaled by Marui's laughter and Sanada's increasing aura of doom. All three of them were pointedly ignored as Niou continued with his thought.

"...and as the brat's blood relative, it was a family member's job to do the deed. Besides, Yagyuu's too much of a gentleman to just let us send you home after you walked all the way here, even though this was supposed to be a Guy's Night..."

As far as I knew, I had been invited to the small gathering by Seiichi himself the day before in class. Why, I had no idea - I was the only non-tennis star (not to mention female) there. It just so happened that Akaya and I arrived together, anyway. The relationship as cousins that we shared had nothing to do with it.

I furrowed my brow, sending a sour look towards Niou. I might have said something if he hadn't looked over just then and caught my eye, instantly lighting my face on fire. Practically breaking my neck while turning away, I cursed myself for being so shy and controllable.

I huffed, facing forward and attempting to get back into the movie. By now, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. When did the location suddenly shift to America?

Obviously, I was the only one to even notice the film was still being played in the Yukimura's family room, as nearly all of the others had split off into their own discussions. I tried my hardest not to listen, knowing that the only things they could be talking about were how attractive the female protagonist was or (they would, without a doubt, find some way to veer off to it) tennis. It made this entire evening seem even more out of place when I was actually trying to segregate myself from them. If I had known the guest list would only include the team and I, I would have turned down Yukimura's invitation and fabricated some other plans I had for tonight.

...Alright, maybe I wouldn't. It was very hard to refuse Seiichi when he stood there smiling at you like that. I would never have believed that a smile could be terrifying if I hadn't been classmates with the buchou of Rikkaidai. There was just something about that particular way his eyes were glowing that let me understand that 'no' wasn't a option.

Trying to stay out of sight and out of mind, I pressed myself into the sofa, burrowing into the cushions and curling up with closed eyes. I really didn't understand these boys at all - they were so focused on a game of all things. What was it about tennis that got them so enraptured? I didn't get it. I had gone to a match of two, of course (what proud Rikkai student wouldn't have the urge to see the notorious team at least once?) and even I wasn't novice enough not to see that the kids were good. But still, once you've seen one match you've pretty much seen them all. At least, that's the way I saw it. The sport just started getting repetitive after a few games. Ball here, ball there, on one side, on the other, thwack, thwack...

"So, seriously," Niou breathed into my ear, bending over to keep the exchange between only us. I ignored the shiver that danced down my spine, hoping that if I pretended not to notice my hair standing on end then he would think nothing of it. "Wanna make out?"

If I had been able to breath at all I might have squealed. Not in ecstasy, as one of his fan girls would have, but in some bizarre combination of terror, anxiety, and, well, there was no denying it... delight. I knew Niou only liked to tease me because I was a bit socially awkward (and, by association, amusing for a shameless boy like the trickster to treat as his own personal toy) but even that couldn't subdue the fact that I couldn't help but have a crush on him. It had something to do with the way his blue-gray eyes sparkled when he leaned in, whispering some form of an innuendo I barely understood while twirling bits of my hair around his spindly fingers...

I cleared my throat abruptly, sitting up pin-straight and focusing fiercely on fighting off the flush that had taken over my cheeks. "No, thank you."

Niou tutted, carefully maneuvering himself so that his fingernails could dust along the length of my forearm. It was certainly distracting. "You sure? It'll be fun. I can teach you how to - "

"Wait," I yelped, eyes darting around the room in panic. I didn't particularly want to know what he was interested in educating me in, but unfortunately there weren't many options for my savior. "Where'd everyone go?!"

I could feel my stomach churning as Niou gazed around, uncommitted. "Oh, they scattered off a few minutes ago. You didn't notice? Buchou, fukubuchou, and Yagyuu went off to get the cake ready, Marui's sniffing around the kitchen, Jackal's supervising Marui, the bratling is being a pest as usual following them around, and Yanagi's right over there."

Feeling a glimmer of hope, I scrutinized the area where Niou had jerked his head when speaking about Yanagi. It took my eyes a moment to focus in the dim lighting, but I could eventually make out the figure of a male laying back on the love seat, still as the dead and just as silent.

…Yanagi wouldn't really fall asleep, would he? No, it wasn't possible! He was only pretending - it was just the sort of thing he would do. He was still conscious and keeping an ear open for my cry of help. He had to be. Yukimura wouldn't leave me alone with Niou. He wasn't that sadistic.

…Was he?

"Anyway, Shiho-chan" Niou said lackadaisically, tracing patterns into my skin. "This is the perfect time for us to fool around a little while the others aren't playing body guard. Turn this way so I don't have to crane my neck to kiss you."

Kiss me?! He wanted to kiss me?! Why?! I had never kissed a boy before! I wouldn't do it right! I couldn't kiss Niou until I had more experience and was confident that I could do it well enough to not make a fool of myself!

But did that mean I really wanted to kiss Niou? Of course. I did sort-of like him, after all, but that didn't mean he liked me back. He said himself he only wanted to fool around. Could I just let him have his way because I wanted it too, even just a little? It didn't mean a thing to him, it would be my first kiss. It was important - there should be a build-up of hesitant, flirtacious touches, eye-gazing, sweet words…

"Tch, fine. I'll come to you, then."

I only froze for a millisecond when Niou braced his hands on the sides of my head, hovering over my lap as he dove in for my mouth. It was like an instinct - the very moment his lips touched mine, something inside of me snapped. I didn't know I had it in me, but the beast was released. I went wild.

Nious was thrown to the ground with a heafty 'thump!'

I sucked in a furious breath, teeth bared as I drilled holes into Niou's bug-eyes. He must not have ever been rejected so brutally before, but it was about time he had. Any other girl might have done something far worse than stuck their knee into his gut and forced him to the floor.

"You…" I growled, trying to find the appropriate words through the rage beating in my body. "You…selfish, pompous bastard!"

I normally never used such insulting language. Then again, I normally never let my irritation get to me, either, but I supposed everyone had their breaking point. Niou's philandering must have been mine.

"Eh," Niou remarked, finding his tongue after watching me seethe from his flabberghasted position on the carpet, "does that mean you want to be on top?"

An animalistic growl filled the room and I unconsciously realized it was mine. Niou, still sprawled out on his back, shifted his weight to his elbows so that he could sit up and get a better look at my narrowed eyes.

"Wow," he muttered, gaze wide with something between fright and admiration. "You really are a Kirihara - you've got the Devil Mode and everything."

He smirked suddenly, lighting my nerves on fire. How could he find anything amusing at a time like this?! "You know, this assertive side is kind of sexy. I didn't know you had it in you, Shiho-chan."

Against my will, my anger dwindled down and was replaced with it's usual timidness. "I...w-well, you...cocky...there's no 'I' in Rikkaidai!"

Niou and I shared a blink, each of us trying to figure out the relevance of my hysterically arranged words, particularly the last comment.

"There's," Niou uttered dully, "three 'i's in Rikkaidai."

I could physically feel my ears burning. "I-I meant team! There's no 'I' in team! You're part of a Rikkaidai team - stop being so egocentric! Don't they teach you that in sports anymore?!"

My eyes, now completely devoid of any courage, were glued to my toes as I grit my teeth, mortified. Niou chuckled.

"I see," he said. A few shuffling noises were heard, leaving me to assume he had climbed to his feet. "You want us to be a team, ne? Like a couple."

My breath caught, a new brewing of scarlet baking my freckles. I was getting tired of the redundant blushes that always errupted whenever I was with the trickster.

The cushion on my right sunk down, Niou regaining his seat an appropriate distance away. "I guess I could do that. Having a real girlfriend could have its advantages."

His arm, as it had done only a short while ago, slithered around the back of my neck. "So now that we're a 'team'," Niou whispered, not taking his eyes off the television screen as the ending credits began to roll, "wanna make out?"

I furrowed my brow, sending a glare towards Niou with every once of nerve in me. "You really are a jerk sometimes."

He merely grinned in reply, using his leverage on my upper body to pull me in closer. All the while, I couldn't help but wonder if this sort of thing occurred between members of Rikkaidai's tennis team...

On the other side of the room, Yanagi Renji tried not to smirk as he listened in on the colloquy between Masaharu and Shiho. He was, after all, under the pretense of being lost in his dreams. The plan had gone perfectly, as he knew it would. He was only there as a precaution in the off case Niou that got out of hand. Seiichi could be cruel with his schemes at times, but not when it came to fragile girls.

As inconspicuously as possible, Yanagi slipped a hand into his pocket and extracted his cell phone. He made the text as brief as possible, wanting the others to return quickly so that he wasn't forced to sit through another almost-but-not-quite sex scene. It would be far worse in reality than on television.

(A/N) I wasn't originally going to post this on FF, but I got a suprizing (wonderfully so!) amount of feedback for my other PoT stuff and decided 'why not?' I don't consider this to be the best quality (like, at all), but I hope it was fun, at least ^-^ And I'm sorry that I couldn't stay away from making little pokes at the characters' sexuality; the series just asks for it, doesn't it?

Hopefully I didn't jinx myself and I'll get a few reviews :D